Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Rosales > Moraceae > Maclura > Maclura pomifera

Maclura pomifera (osage-orange; osage orange; osageorange)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to 8 to 15 metres (30–50 ft) tall. The distinctive fruit, from a multiple fruit family, is roughly spherical, bumpy, 8 to 15 centimetres (3–6 in) in diameter, and turns a bright yellow-green in the fall. The fruits exude a sticky white latex when cut or damaged. Despite the name "Osage orange", it is only very distantly related to the orange, and is instead a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae.
View Wikipedia Record: Maclura pomifera

Attributes

Air Quality Improvement [1]  None
Allergen Potential [1]  High
Carbon Capture [1]  Low
Screening - Summer [2]  Dense
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Shade Percentage [1]  86 %
Temperature Reduction [1]  Medium
Wind Reduction [1]  Medium-Low
Bloom Period [2]  Late Spring
Drought Tolerance [2]  Medium
Edible [3]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [2]  Medium
Flower Type [3]  Dioecious
Frost Free Days [2]  6 months
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  Medium
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Fall
Growth Form [2]  Single Stem
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Hazards [3]  The milky sap can cause dermatitis in some people; An extract and the juice of the fruit is toxic, though a 10% aqueous infusion and extract diluted 1:1 are not toxic;
Janka Hardness [4]  2690 lbf (1220 kgf) Very Hard
Leaf Type [3]  Deciduous
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Propagation [2]  Bare Root, Container, Cutting, Seed
Root Depth [2]  32 inches (81 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [2]  Slow
Seed Vigor [2]  Medium
Seeds Per [2]  7000 / lb (15432 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [2]  Erect
Specific Gravity [5]  0.85
Structure [3]  Tree
Usage [3]  A yellow dye is obtained from the bark of the root and the wood; Green and orange can also be obtained from it; The sap of the fruit is used as an insect repellent; It is said to be effective against cockroaches; The bark is a source of tannin; The plant is often grown as a hedge in N. America and Europe; A hedge in a very exposed position at Rosewarne in N. Cornwall has grown well (1989), though it is very bare in winter; This species is also used in shelterbelt plantings; Wood - coarse-grained, exceedingly hard, heavy, flexible, very strong, very durable, silky, lustrous. It weighs 48lb per cubic foot. One of the most durable woods in N. America, it is seldom used commercially, but is used locally for fence posts,piers, bows etc and makes an excellent fuel;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  None
Flower Color [2]  Green
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Orange
Fruit Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Height [3]  49 feet (15 m)
Width [3]  39 feet (12 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Hardiness Zone Maximum [1]  USDA Zone: 9 Low Temperature: 20 F° (-6.7 C°) → 30 F° (-1.1 C°)
Light Preference [2]  Full Sun
Soil Acidity [2]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [2]  Intermediate
Water Use [1]  Moderate
View Plants For A Future Record : Maclura pomifera

Protected Areas

Predators

Range Map

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1i-Tree Species v. 4.0, developed by the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station and SUNY-ESF using the Horticopia, Inc. plant database.
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4Wood Janka Hardness Scale/Chart J W Morlan's Unique Wood Gifts
♦ 5Forest Inventory and Analysis DB version 5.1, May 4, 2013, U.S. Forest Service
♦ 6Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 7HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 8Neotoma floridana, Robert W. Wiley, Mammalian Species No. 139, pp. 1-7 (1980)
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0